This invention relates to exterior rearview mirror assemblies located on the side of a transportation device, particularly to the addition of a detachable extension mirror unit to extend rearward vision around wide objects blocking a vehicle driver's original rearward view. Wide objects blocking the driver's original rearward view could be campers or other wide loads mounted on a vehicle, trailers attached to the rear of the vehicle, or similar items that obstruct a person's view in or around a transportation device.
Motor vehicles typically come equipped with mirror units secured to the driver's side and the passenger's side for viewing to the side and rear of the vehicle. These side-view mirror units protrude from the side of the vehicle and generally determine the overall width of the vehicle. The side-view mirror units permanently mounted on a vehicle are designed not to protrude too far because it would be easier to hit something with the mirror unit while driving. Many of these side-view mirror units now include a housing around a remotely adjustable reflective surface mounted on the exterior of the vehicle and a remote control input device mounted inside the vehicle. Having such a remote control system allows the driver to adjust both the driver's side and the passenger's side rearward views to accommodate different driver heights and driving positions without having to reach out of the vehicle, leave his driving position, or use an assistant to adjust the mirrors. This remote adjustability is now common and popular.
People can use their vehicles to tow trailers or fifth wheelers that are wider than their vehicle. With pickup trucks one can also install a camper or carry a load that is wider than the truck body. When using a trailer, fifth wheeler, camper or similar object with this additional width, the normal exterior mirrors often become useless because the trailer or similar wide object blocks the primary exterior rearward view. In addition, the view through the interior rearview mirror is usually also blocked by the camper, fifth wheeler, trailer, or similar wide object leaving the driver with no rearward view at all. It is both dangerous and illegal in most places to drive without having a rearward view.
It is known to provide a separate extension mirror unit that attaches to a vehicle and extends further laterally from the vehicle than the original mirror unit so the driver of a vehicle can see rearwards around a wide object attached to the vehicle behind him, such as a truck camper or a trailer. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,296 to Tomlin discloses an extension mirror unit that provides an extended rearward view to solve the wide trailer problem. The extension mirror unit disclosed by Tomlin can be detached to return the overall width of the vehicle back to its original width. However, mirror units of this type do not provide remote adjustability. It would be complex and costly to add remote adjustability to this type of extension mirror unit.
It is known to provide temporary extension mirror units that: attach to permanently installed side-view mirror units; extend the lateral viewing angle from the vehicle; and detach to return the vehicle to its original width when the extended view is not desired. U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,532 to Budish discloses a mirror unit that mounts over an existing exterior mirror unit to give an extended rearward view around wide objects. The extension mirror mounting configuration disclosed by Budish cannot provide remote adjustability because it is based on attachment elements that will not fit in the narrow gap between the remotely-adjustable reflective surface in the existing mirror and the stationary housing around this reflective surface in typical remotely-adjustable mirror units.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,400 to Brookes et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,401 to Kittridge et al, U.S. Pat. No 4,921,340 to Dyer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,283 to Croteau, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,236 to Barksdale disclose different types of temporary mirror units that attach to existing mirror units to provide an extended rearward view. However, when used with remotely-adjustable existing mirror units, these detachable extension mirror units are fixed to the stationary housing, not to the remotely-adjustable reflective surface and therefore do not provide remote adjustability of the extension reflective surface.
It is known to permanently attach a replacement reflective surface to an original reflective surface to repair the original reflective surface. In this case, if the original reflective surface was remotely adjustable, the replacement reflective surface will also become remotely adjustable. However, this configuration does not extend rearward vision around wide objects. This idea cannot be used to create an adjustable extension mirror because most modern side view mirror units have adjustable reflective surfaces located inside a stationary housing and separated from this housing by a narrow gap. Also, the repair of one reflective surface by another is designed to be permanent. Therefore, the attachment method used is permanent.
It is known to have a compound mirror assembly comprising multiple mirrors surfaces that move together. U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,871 to Hou discloses an exterior rearview mirror assembly containing three mirror elements that adjust together. U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,459 to Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,743 to Hoek and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0072026 to Lynam et al disclose exterior rearview mirror assemblies containing two elements that adjust together. These compound mirror assemblies allow more than one mirror to be adjusted at once. Some of these configurations are also remotely adjustable.
It is known to have remotely adjustable side view mirror units that can move laterally from a position close to the vehicle to a position further out from the vehicle when an extended rearward image is wanted. In some cases, such remotely adjustable extension mirror systems even have remote control movement of the reflective surface from the inboard (non-towing) to an outboard (towing) position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,930 to Deedreek discloses such an extension mirror system.
However, U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,871, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,459, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,743, U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,930, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0072026 all disclose mirror units that are used as or substitute for original equipment mirror assemblies and are subsequently permanently attached. In the automotive aftermarket, replacing an original equipment mirror assembly is quite difficult and typically involves taking off the interior door panel. If the extension mirror unit is to be remotely controlled, a new remote control input device compatible with the rest of the extension mirror unit would typically also be installed in the vehicle. Consequently, people who did not buy specialized “towing mirrors” when they purchased their vehicle prefer add-on mirrors that can be attached in a simple way to their existing side view mirrors. Many motor vehicle buyers who anticipate that they may want extension mirrors may still prefer to use detachable extension mirrors because these are generally significantly less expensive than the incremental cost of buying an original equipment or dealer-installed “towing mirror” that can be manually or automatically moved from an inboard to an extended position.
In addition, add-on extension mirrors can fall off and get lost or damaged during operation as a result of high wind loads or poor installation. It is not known to have a secondary attachment system as a backup, such as a safety cord, in case the primary extension mirror unit mounting fails.
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. For items with the same reference label, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components.